Editorial Report 15B

When I was writing the script, the words seemed to flow naturally as though I were having a conversation. That spontaneity is lost once the words hit the page (or, in this case, screen.)

I ended up just recording about forty minutes of myself giving the advice I wish I had gotten at the beginning of this course. This section is the closest to what I had written in my script and outline.

Edited: 1:45 - 4:00

Original:

1. Time Management Matters
1. What sounds better? Working 10 hours in a row on a Sunday or putting in two hours every weekday and having the entire weekend to yourself?
2. If you are a freshman, you probably have much more time on your hands than you realize. It’s sandwiched between classes, when you usually catch up on Game of Thrones, and when you’re making that 2AM burrito run, as high as Barack Obama [play Correspondent’s Dinner clip]
1. Benefits of changing The attitude with which you approach this class matters-- it is not some “dumb gen ed”
1. Even if you are the most efficient student the University of Arizona has ever seen (which is unlikely), you will be spending at least six hours per week on this class alone. If you go into the class thinking it’s some “dumb gen ed” you will be bitter, produce lower quality work, and probably spend longer on the assignments than necessary.
2. When I signed up for this class it was just one of a few necessary steps on my path to graduating in two and a half years. Twenty credits seemed doable, especially because two of them were “just gen eds.”
3. I spent as much time complaining about the blog posts as I spent writing them and didn’t even realize I wasn’t being productive the entire time. I was sick of my instructor thinking that this class should be my biggest priority because the course number started with a measly 1.
4. This class doesn’t have to be your biggest priority, but you have to make time for it. And that doesn’t mean just on Sundays.
5. A great way to combat this mindset is to find passion in every assignment
6. I lost steam in the second project. I was writing a standard (AKA boring) college essay about the rhetorical tools used in other people’s boring essays.
7. I switched up my genre examples to include newly developing internet genres-- the refugee experience simulation and the interactive news map. I was able to root my arguments in psychology and discuss colors and graphics. This was a small change, but because of it I was interested in my work again. Once I switched examples, the time I spent on the project went from dragging on to flying by.

Peer Review for Elizabeth

I reviewed Elizabeth's QRG from Section 6. She did a great job citing her own blog as a source throughout the QRG. The formatting and images keep the QRG engaging throughout the reading experience.

As she admitted in her post to reviewers, the QRG is very long at about ten pages and 3,000 words. It seems like she has already cut out excess fluff and just has too much content. That's a good problem to have, but I recommended that she completely remove one or two subsections of the QRG. 

Editorial Report 15A

I didn't stick to my script or outline because the recording sounded robotic. However, I did include the introduction from the script for comparison.

The introduction is pretty much the same, but with added sounds from the paltry GarageBand selection. I'm pretty sure the entire point of GarageBand is to help people create their own music, but if you don't know how to do that you're pretty much on your own for sound effects.

Edited: 0:00-2:00


Original: 

So you just signed up for English and searched for “Bottai” on Rate my Professor. Or maybe you just started walking to your first college English class. You don’t know what to expect, but you’re terrified by everything you’ve heard thus far. Whether you’re months or minutes away from starting this experience, you’re probably nervous. Luckily it’s early enough for me to help you out and let you learn from my mistakes.

Open Post to Peer Reviewers

I worked on my final project and just planned to do all of the blogposts once I finished my final draft. I don't have a "rough cut" for you all, but my final podcast can be found here. I ran into a few issues uploading it to the first site, so I posted a backup to SoundCloud just in case. If the first one doesn’t work, use the SoundCloud link.

The main issue that I have with my project is the abrupt transitions. This is something that I messed up during recording and I just couldn't bring myself to rent another microphone and record the podcast again. Also, iLife sound effects are no longer included in GarageBand. I tried to download a sound effects pack but ended up with a virus instead, so I just gave up and used the weird music already on GarageBand.

Also, I got a little bit sloppy in between studying for finals and organizing move out at my dorm, so it's just not the quality that I would typically submit. I cringed a little bit uploading when I uploaded to SoundCloud, but that was 100% my fault. Carving out enough time to create a project that I was proud of was my responsibility.

Peer Review for Nicholas

I reviewed Nicholas' rough draft. The rough draft is a script for what I believe to be a video essay. His script sounds very casual and friendly-- basically exactly what you would expect this reflection to be like.

That's exactly what I tried to do with my podcast script, but it came out sounding robotic. I recommended that he speak off the cuff to the camera and just use the script as a way to brainstorm. I read a script for my Project 3 Video essay and it was obvious that I wasn't looking at the camera.

He makes a lot of great points in his draft and clearly learned a lot from this class. 

Peer Review for Michaela

I decided to review the content in Michaela's production reports. Her writing is the polar opposite of Fern's. It's full of flair and personality, but it doesn't cite very many specific examples to back up the claims she makes. No one should feel that they have to justify their own feelings, except maybe when it's part of a required assignment.

I appreciated her brutal honesty when discussing why she signed up for the class. It was the only section that fit into her schedule and she wanted to knock English out in one semester. Bottai was the only instructor that she didn't want, but he was the one she ended up with. I didn't go into this class fearing Bottai, but I definitely left the first meeting with the same sentiment.

I agree wholeheartedly with Michaela-- being stuck in this class is one of the best things that happened to me this semester. 

Peer Review for Fernando

I reviewed Fernando's production reports. The first published segment of his video script is his introduction. He addresses everything that is required by the assignment, and tells the audience exactly what they are in for. It is very simple, to the point, and, frankly, boring. I can't blame him for not writing an interesting script. He comes from the mystical land of Mechanical Engineering where fact is king and fluff is frowned upon.

In the second script section, he describes writing a QRG for the Controversy Postmortem. The tone is very detached and impersonal; it reads as if he were looking directly at the prompt while writing the script segment. This may because the first project was so long ago, but it seems like an analysis of someone else's experience in the class instead of a self reflection.

This is a good start for content-- Fern just needs to spice it up a bit.

Production Report 14B

Writing about myself is so much easier than writing about policy is. Someone should create a major that only requires you to think about yourself.

Oh yeah, that's business.

I was unable to record this draft because I'm resting my voice, but I have started planning out sound effects and sound bytes to include in my podcast. So far it's just raw text, but I tried to use a casual tone so it will sound like I'm speaking to a friend when I record it.

Edited Version

Changing just one habit can affect your entire schedule and time management. That habit for me was getting rid of my alarm. I left my window open so I would wake up when the light flooded my room and wouldn't let myself look at my phone until I was dressed and my bed was made.

Before I made this change I had been going to bed at 1AM wasting hours on Netflix, eating terrible, greasy food, and just not being productive. I always felt tired, but I wasn't doing anything.

I didn't try to change my entire life. I just left my window open and put away my phone. I started going to bed earlier, waking up before 8AM, and going to the gym almost every day. I bought a planner and started organizing my day by the hour and finishing my schoolwork by 6PM. I'm still taking 20 credits.

Obviously this system can't work perfectly. If you have an 8AM class you need an alarm. If you work in the mornings you can't finish your homework by 6PM. But the overall point doesn't change-- alter one habit and the rest will fall like dominos.

One of the most destructive habits among students is falling into the black hole that is the internet. Download the Self Control application if you have a Mac, or Freedom if you use Windows. You can block a specific "blacklist" of sites or only allow yourself on the sites you include on your white list. I didn't realize how much time I wasted on these websites until I blocked them and doubled my productivity.

Be careful-- sometimes Bottai requires you to use these sites for research purposes. Before you block them from your computer for the next ten hours to write blog posts, make sure you don't have to use them.

Outline Item

1. just one habit (for me-- not looking at my phone.

1. I was going to bed at 1AM, wasting hours on Netflix, eating terrible, greasy food, and just not being productive. I was always tired.
2. I didn’t force myself to change my entire life. I just left my window open when I went to bed, woke up, made my bed, and got ready before even glancing at my phone (so I never knew what time it was.)
3. I went to bed earlier, woke up by 8am, and made it to the gym almost every day. I started planning my day by the hour and finishing my schoolwork by 6PM (with 20 credits.)
4. It just takes one change.
1. For the of god get the Self Control app. I didn’t realize how much time I wasted during “breaks” on black hole sites like facebook and reddit until I only let myself use them for 30 minutes per day.
1. Be careful-- Bottai often makes you get sources from these websites. Plan ahead and have someone hold you accountable.

Production Report 14A

I am sick and barely have a voice (not that it matters because the marching band won't shut up in the background anyway) so I'm just posting my basic script and the corresponding outline item.

Rough Draft

The attitude with which you approach this class matters-- it is not some “dumb gen ed." Even if you are the most efficient student the University of Arizona has ever seen (which is unlikely), you will be spending at least six hours per week on this class alone.

If you go into the class thinking it’s some “dumb gen ed” you will be bitter, produce lower quality work, and probably spend longer on the assignments than necessary. 

When I signed up for this class it was just one of a few necessary steps on my path to graduating in two and a half years. Twenty credits seemed doable, especially because two of them were “just gen eds.” 

I spent as much time complaining about the blog posts as I spent writing them and didn’t even realize I wasn’t being productive the entire time. I was sick of my instructor thinking that this class should be my biggest priority because the course number started with a measly number one.

This class doesn’t have to be your biggest priority, but you have to make time for it. And that doesn’t mean just on Sundays. 

A great way to combat this mindset is to find passion in every assignment. I lost steam in the second project. I was writing a standard (AKA boring) college essay about the rhetorical tools used in other people’s boring essays. I switched up my genre examples to include newly developing internet genres-- the refugee experience simulation and the interactive news map. I was able to root my arguments in psychology and discuss colors and graphics. 

This was a small change, but because of it I was interested in my work again. Once I switched examples, the time I spent on the project went from dragging on to flying by.

1. Attitude matters
1. Huge time commitment-- don't think of it as a dumb gen-ed
2. My credit overload that seemed manageable because some of the classes were gen-eds
3. Bad mindset: blaming instructor for thinking this class should be first priority
4. This class doesn’t have to be your biggest priority, but you have to make time for it. And that doesn’t mean just on Sundays.
5. A great way to combat this mindset is to find passion in every assignment
6. Losing steam on project 2 because of boring essayse
7. Benefits of switching to internet based genres AKA something I was interested in
8. Mold to assignment to you-- small changes matter

Production Schedule

This project is on a much tighter timeline than previous projects for this course have been. Then again, most of these projects tend to be completed on a college of Sunday nights or in the five days before the final deadline.

Besides, this project is much less research-intensive than the other projects have been. It's still odd to think that I have to finish this assignment in a week while I'm preparing for other finals and recovering from the flu. I guess that's what adulting is, though.

Anyway, here's my basic production outline:

1. Friday, 4/28: Write content outline
2. Saturday, 4/29: Write basic script & sleep. A lot. 
3. Sunday 5/1: Record initial script (if voice has recovered) and complete peer review. If voice hasn't recovered, just post script and cross my fingers for the next few days. 
4. WHENEVER VOICE RECOVERS (by Wednesday): Record finalized script for podcast 
5. Before Dead Day: Play around with Garage Band and get comfortable with the software. 
6. Thursday, 5/5: Add finishing edits to podcast and upload to google drive
7. Friday, 5/6 at 3:30PM : Upload project and FINISH ENGLISH 109H,
8. Friday, 5/6 at 3:35 PM: Feel relieved but also miss this class a little bit. 

Content Outline

The rough outline of my podcast can be found here. It's not as concise as my outlines usually are because I tried to type all of the thoughts I had while reflecting on this semester.

 I've struggled with deciding how to include outside sources for this project. Let me know in the comments if you have any ideas.